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Chapter 2: There Is a Devil
1,829 words, about 9 min read
The cover of this book is very straight forward in declaring it to be a Christian based work. My challenge is to write to you who are involved in any type of homosexuality as well as to those who have been called by God to bring enlightenment and deliverance to the captives. Therefore, if you are reading this book, then you either know there is a God, or you suspect there to be one. Maybe you went to Sunday school or church with Mom or Grandmother. The point is, if you believe there is a God, then it follows that you must also believe in the devil. But believe it or not, most people in the church know truly little about the devil, or God for that matter. Well, I am going to take you along with me as I seek to enlighten the church on the captivity you live in every day.
In order for the members of the Body of Christ, (Church), to understand how to minister to the LGBT community, it must discover truth that can only come from God’s perspective on any subject. Therefore, it is necessary that
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every point be substantiated by scripture. Not only is this the only way to educate the church; but scripture holds the only power to deliver you from this captivity. Now do not get offended because I call your situation captivity; that is a biblical term that you may not understand at this point. But I also challenge you to continue to read and learn that you may know the truth about how you got to where you are.
You may not know or believe it, but satan played a large role in choosing the lifestyle you live today. Therefore, I want to take us back to the Old Testament so that we might read God’s testimony of satan or the devil, as he is sometimes referred to in script.
Ezekiel 28:1
Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth;
and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. As you may not be born-again, or even a scholar of the Word of God; I will try to keep my explanation of the scriptures as simple as possible. The passage above is taken from the vision God gave the prophet Ezekiel. He saw the origin and the fall of Lucifer, (satan, the devil or the King of Tyrus), as he is referred to in this 28th chapter of Ezekiel. In any case, we can be quite certain the prophet is not writing about an earthly man; as he refers to satan as ‘the anointed cherub that covereth.’ Now this may not seem truly relevant to our discussion on homosexuality, but if you believe in God, then you must also believe in the devil.
In simple terms, before his fall, satan was an anointed cherub. This is an angelic being of high rank and statue. He is also described as a covering cherub. This refers to the fact that he was a protector, or guardian angelic being. The fact that he was on the Holy Mountain of God, lets us know that he was stationed here on the earth; since the Holy Mountain of God is what we know now to be Jerusalem.
Ezekiel 28:15
Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day
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that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee. Lucifer’s job was to secure the will of God on the earth. However, the 15th verse calls him perfect, until iniquity was found in him.
Iniquity is defined as any form of sin:
- Unrighteousness: That which is not the way of the Lord
- Wickedness: evil adversity (to reverse)
- Unjust: wrongful, undeserved
- Perverseness: turned me over, turn away, moral corruption
- Variant: a different version or form of a thing or person
It is important that you take careful note of these synonyms for iniquity. Satan is the author of all that is not the way of the Lord. He is called the Wicked One, or he who is an evil adversary of God. He is perverse, which means he is morally corrupt or turned over to evil. But the most interesting definition as it relates to this study is variant. This word means to make a different version or form of something, or someone. This is the goal of the devil. He is determined to re-create God’s creation. His deepest desire is to pervert mankind. To make right wrong and wrong right. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way (2 Thessalonians 2:7).
The day Adam and Eve sinned they died spiritually, and then eventually they died naturally. Nevertheless, though they walked the earth after sinning against God, they were dead in sin and trespasses. They passed that sin and death down to every generation of mankind that has lived since them. Paul spoke of the condition they left humanity in. And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience (Ephesians 2:1-3).
The very nature of mankind was changed to that of this occupying spirit of iniquity. Man became evil in his imagination and proceeded to do all that satan inspired him to do. We were helpless and without hope; held captive by a spirit greater than our own. David cried out in this despairing condition. Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me (Psalm 51:5).
The human body is used by satan to fulfill all his lusts. This is truth revealed to us by God through His Holy Word. The seventh chapter of Romans is the testimony of a man before he met Christ. He, Paul, testifies of the power of satan in holding him captive; to engage in sins he had not anticipated he would do. However, this is not just the testimony of Paul, it is the testimony of us all before we were born-again.
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I am going to walk you through the following verses so that you might see that homosexuality, as with any sin, is the work of the devil and not just your choice. For nothing can be a choice when you are in captivity. It is when one is set free from captivity, that he or she can make choices regarding their life or lifestyle.
Romans 7:20
Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
Paul acknowledges that it is the indwelling of the ‘spirit of sin’ living in him that causes him to do things that are sinful. We have identified this spirit in the verse above, as the spirit of iniquity. David declared that he was born in sin and shaped in iniquity. Again, that spirit is of the devil and it lived in the body of all the children born after Adam. But Paul makes it clear that it is not the now fallen man himself that originates the desire to sin. But it is the spirit of iniquity (sin), that dwells or lives in him that fosters the desire to do things that he would not.
Romans 7:21-23
21 I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.
22 For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:
23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.
Let us take a closer look at this law of sin Paul speaks of in the verse above. If I were to render a simple definition of the law of sin, it would be “a rule that defines and governs spiritual behavior.” The law of gravity simply states that “what goes up must come down.” When the ‘law of sin’ is working in the human body, the individual will sin. This is the effect of the fall of man. When Adam disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden, the spirit of satan (iniquity) came to live in man, putting the law of sin in motion in his members (body).
I could go a lot further with this. But for now, it will suffice that you become aware that if you are not born-again, then the devil is working his work in you; causing you to do things that even your own mind consents to be wrong.
We could not help ourselves; the law of sin was stronger than our will to do that which was righteous. Thus, we became captives of the devil, who was able to control us with the law of sin and death. He created lust in our members (body parts). We enjoyed sin and its pleasures. We were hooked and could in no
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wise free ourselves from this bondage. But that is not the end of the story…
Romans 7:24-25
24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.
Jesus Christ is the answer and the deliverance. I know there is a possibility you have been in church and may have, at some point, cried out for help that never came. Therefore, you may not have any confidence in what is called the power of the Gospel. You went for a while, prayed for a period, and believed a little. But nothing changed. Your desires and cravings for the lifestyle remained intact. Thus, you concluded, ‘there is no power in the church.’ But this not true. If you will stick with me, I will show you how to break the power of satan in your life through that very same Gospel you have come to doubt. Check out the following scripture.
Romans 6:19
I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness.
Uncleanness is moral and physical impurity. This is the result of the law of sin working in you. However, according to Romans 6:19, you can move from this life of moral and physical impurity to one of righteousness and holiness. Keep reading, the truth can set you free.